Preseason 65-team field projection

Patrick Stevens The Washington Times - November 8, 2009, 11:22PM

As much as brackets are welcome in the world of D1scourse, one thing’s for certain: There’s no rational way to truly seed the NCAA tournament’s 65-team field before a game is even played.

That, of course, happens tomorrow when Florida International and defending national champ North Carolina meet. And let there be no mistake —- a content shift is about to occur here, tilting from football to basketball.

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That said, a 65-team list as a projected field is certainly a better idea than a bracket at this stage. It’s less time-consuming for starters, and a bracket based on nothing is essentially nothing.

So bookmark this, or hit print and stow this away for mid-March. For now, anyway, it’s the best guess at a full NCAA tournament field:

* America East (1): Vermont

* Atlantic Coast (7): Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Maryland, North Carolina

* Atlantic Sun (1): Jacksonville

* Atlantic 10 (2): Dayton, Xavier

* Big East (7): Connecticut, Georgetown, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Villanova, West Virginia

* Big Sky (1): Weber State

* Big South (1): Radford

* Big Ten (7): Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Purdue, Wisconsin

* Big 12 (6): Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M

* Big West (1): Long Beach State

* Colonial (1): Old Dominion